Book Note: Ecclesiology for a Digital Church: Theological Reflections on a New Normal b

Ecclesiology for a Digital Church: Theological Reflections on a New Normal by Heidi A. Campbell and John Dyer (Eds). Norfolk, UK: SCM Press, 2022. ISBN: 9780334061595,180 pp. 

This volume contains a collection of 12 chapters discussing the theme of the book, which focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications that this crisis holds for the church in the future. The main matter being examined in this book is the ecclesiological challenges and opportunities presented by digital technology in relation to its widespread use in the life of the church during the health crisis.  

The book is divided into three sections. “The first part re-examines traditional vocabulary and udnerstandings of digital church. The second section explores specific examples of ecclesiological shifts during the pandemic. The final section looks to the future of the Church in the digital age, offering insight and recommendations for a way forward.” 

One of the highlights of this book is that it gathered the wisdom and insights from scholars from a variety of disciplines and theological traditions as well as geographical and cultural backgrounds. Thus, the theology of the Church in the digital age being considered and deepened in this volume is not of a particular denomination, but of Christianity taken as a whole.  

Besides the 12 chapters, the book also includes an introduction that lays out the basis for this project as well as a concluding chapter that summarizes the common themes and conclusions found in the book. Finally, according to the editors, this book “aims to offer a critical and concrete assessment of the new social conditions and technological strategies the Church is currently being faced with and will continue to face post-quarantine. It seeks to offer talking points that challenge traditional ecclesiological models and theological modes of thinking about the nature of chruches and how we might need to begin to think differently about Christian community in the future.”